The flowering plants of South Africa; vol. 4Pole Evans, I. B. (Illtyd Buller)
Science
The flowering plants of South Africa; vol. 4
Pole Evans, I. B. (Illtyd Buller)
Plants -- South Africa -- Periodicals; Plants -- South Africa -- Pictorial works -- Periodicals
IN 1889 a good coloured plate of this plant was reproduced in the
_Botanical Magazine_. The plate was prepared from plants sent to Kew by
the late Dr. Medley Wood, and which flowered freely there in the open.
_Anoiganthus breviflorus_ is readily distinguished from species of
_Cyrtanthus_ (species of which we figured in earlier plates) by having
basifixed, not versatile anthers. It is a fairly widely distributed
species, being found as far south as Somerset East, and spreading
northward through the eastern parts of the Cape Province into Natal,
Zululand, Basutoland, Swaziland and to Broken Hill, N.W. Rhodesia. The
same yellow colour of the flowers is found in species of _Cyrtanthus_,
but specimens with white flowers have been recorded.
The species does quite well in cultivation, and in its native habitat
thrives in swampy and marshy ground.
Our plate was prepared from plants collected near Springfield (Durban),
Natal.
[There appears to be a second and quite distinct species (_A. luteus_
Baker) of this interesting little genus, though Baker in the _Flora
Capensis_ treated it as a variety. That it is distinct enough to be
regarded as a species was very strongly supported by the late Dr. J.
Medley Wood. According to him _A. breviflorus_ grows in swampy ground,
commencing at about 1500 ft. above sea level, and is found upwards to
4000 ft. He observed it occasionally to 4 ft. in height, but the average
was 2 to 3 ft. On the other hand, _A. luteus_ appears on grassy hills
and plains from just above sea level to 2000 ft., but never in swamps.
During the flowering stage it is rarely more than about 1 ft. high, but
afterwards, in fruit, the scape lengthens considerably and often attains
2 ft. in length. These observations by Dr. Wood are confirmed by a
critical examination of the specimens at Kew. The flowers and leaves
appear to be always contemporaneous in _A. breviflorus_, but in _A.
luteus_ the flowers appear first and the leaves are very small. Further
notes by Natal botanists would be welcome.--J. H.]
DESCRIPTION:--_Bulb_ ovoid, white, 2 to 3 cm. in diameter, with a short
neck and brown membranous tunics. _Leaves_ 3 to 4, contemporary with the
flowers, 4 to 30 cm. long, 7 to 14 mm. broad, strap-shaped, obtuse,
strongly-nerved, glabrous. _Peduncle_ 8 to 20 cm. long, about 4 mm. in
diameter, slender, erect. _Spathe-valves_ 4 to 5 cm. long, 4 mm. broad
at the base lanceolate. _Pedicels_ 2 to 4 cm. long, erect.
_Inflorescence_ a 2-to 10-flowered umbel. _Perianth-tube_ 5 mm. long;
lobes 15 mm. long, lanceolate, acute. _Stamens_ included, in 2 series;
anthers basifixed. _Ovary_ glabrous; style slender; stigmas 3,
overtopping the stamens.
* * * * *
PLATE 144.--Fig. 1, perianth laid open; Fig. 2, stamens; Fig. 3,
cross-section of ovary; Fig. 4, style-branches.
F.P.S.A., 1924.
[Illustration: _145._]
PLATE 145.
BURCHELLIA BUBALINA.
_Cape Province, Natal, Transvaal._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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